White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Lowey Urges Governor to Refuse to Certify Indian Point.

WPCNR WASHINGTON WIRE. From Nita Lowey's Press Office. January 30, 2003:Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) hailed the decision by Governor George Pataki and State Emergency Management Office Director Edward Jacoby not to certify the emergency plans in place for the communities surrounding the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants in Buchanan, New York.

"I applaud the Governor for joining us in our fight to bring the post-September 11th reality to the emergency planning process for Indian Point," said Lowey, who called for the orderly decommissioning of the facility in February 2002. "We cannot pretend that the threat of terrorism against Indian Point does not exist, considering the very planes that were used as missiles against the World Trade Center flew over the facility."

"Local, county, state, and federal officials in the Hudson Valley have sent a message to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that's loud and clear: the current emergency plans for Indian Point simply do not protect our communities in the event of a terrorist attack. It's time for FEMA to step up to the plate and be honest about the inadequacies of the plans." Lowey called on FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh earlier this month to decertify the emergency plans. In a January 10, 2003, letter to the agency, Lowey cited the report by former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, which asserted that the emergency plans are inadequate. "FEMA must decertify the plans. The agency simply must not bury its head in the sand by ignoring the Witt report and the concerns of New York residents and public officials. If FEMA's goal is truly the safety of our communities - not the best interests of the nuclear industry - it will not certify these plans," said Lowey.


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